Modulation of calcium channel currents in guinea-pig single ventricular heart cells by the dihydropyridine Bay K 8644.

1. A single glass micropipette voltage clamp technique with intracellular dialysis was used to study Ba2+ currents in isolated ventricular cells from guinea-pig hearts. Effects of the 1,4-dihydropyridine Bay K 8644 on whole-cell currents were evaluated at 37 degrees C. 2. Bay K 8644 increased the Ba2+ peak currents at test potentials between -50 and +20 mV and shifted the current-voltage relationships towards hyperpolarizing potentials (leftward shift for Ca2+ channel activation, 13.8 +/- 4.1 mV; n = 9; Bay K 8644, 5 mumol/l). 3. The peak times of the Ba2+ currents were diminished over the voltage range tested between -40 and +20 mV after Bay K 8644 in parallel with a shortening of the time constant of activation that was estimated from fits of the recorded currents with a d2f model. 4. The decay of the Ba2+ currents was fitted with two exponentials including a pedestal. The compound Bay K 8644 accelerated the fast decay over the whole voltage range. The amplitude of the rapidly inactivated component of the Ba2+ currents was strikingly increased after application of Bay K 8644. 5. The steady-state inactivation using a 0.5 or 5 s pre-pulse was shifted towards hyperpolarizing potentials (leftward shift 10.3 +/- 5.2 mV; n = 4; Bay K 8644, 5 mumol/l). 6. The change in the time course of Bay K 8644-modified Ba2+ currents cannot be described solely by a decrease of the backward rate coefficient from an open to a closed state of the Ca2+ channel (Sanguinetti, Krafte & Kass, 1986). The described effects of Bay K 8644 on the inactivation can be both qualitatively and quantitatively described by a model of current-dependent inactivation (Standen & Stanfield, 1982), assuming a lower affinity of an internal binding site for Ba2+ than for Ca2+.